Saturday, February 7, 2009

Jonarda 22:Real Madrid Vs Racing Santander( Match Preview )

Posted by Paulo Martin,Spain

IF`S AND BUT`S

Crucial game ?

So we play Racing this weekend, a game that could prove to be more important than you may think. FC Barcelona have various defenders missing and played an important cup match midweek which could cause them to drop points, ok its unexpected especially at the Camp Nou but its possible and especially against such a tricky team as Sporting Gijon who don't know how to play for a draw.

We on the other hand have almost a full squad except for Gago who will miss this match against Racing. Racing also have Pedro Munitis missing due to 5 yellows. Munitis is a key player for Racing seeing as he`s the captain and motivates the team to the full, also he forms a great partnership with Zigic and Jonatan Perreria. His electric runs will surely be missed by the Racing faithfuls. Our defence will have to keep a close eye on Zigic, the big man is on form as of late and is really starting to look like the great Zigic of yesteryear. Knowing how much our defence suffers against tall men we should maintain ourselves fully alert. I assume Pepe will keep tabs on Zigic not letting him receive a ball, especially not in the box. He`ll be a constant threat in area balls also. We shouldn't ignore Jonathan Perreria either, he may be small but he`s certainly talented and extremely fast so Cannavaro will have to have his wits about him.

Racing is a very quick team on the counter and has two great wide-men like Oscar Serrano and the previously mentioned Munitis who both have pace and more importantly great crossing ability.

Lass`s partner

Also interesting will be who Jaunde pairs Lass with in the midfield. I assume Gago`s replacement will be Sneijder playing deeper than normal (if Juande continues with his flat 4-4-2) and coming into more contact with the ball, just he needs really to boost his level of confidence. Juande could also play a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Lass playing the holding role on his own and having an attacking midfielder just behind the strikers but knowing Juande i don't see him doing this, he`ll stick with whats been working and we`ll see Sneijder playing deeper. Another option would be to field Parejo as Lass is partner but i think Dani isnt fully fit to play from the start and he not make the cut.

Faubert

Another question is weather Faubert will make his debut on the right wing or would Juande opt for playing Van Der Vaar in the team either as an attacking mid with Sneijder on the left or with Sneijder int he middle and as Van Der Vaart as a winger. Personally id like to see Juande stick with his flat 4-4-2 and play with Faubert - Lass - Sneijder - Robben. All this is providing Robben actually starts considering the poor guy has had the flu all week, it`ll go down to the wire i think. Everything changes if Robben doesnt start, we could see Higuain on the right and Huntelaar upfront, or Faubert on the right, Van Der Vaart on the left and Sneijder in the middle or visa-versa. I think it would be interesting to see how we fair without Robben playing, at least not from the start. Id like to see the teams offensive capacity without the flying dutchman.

Garay

Will the Bernabeu get to see Garay ? Your guess is as good as mine considering Muñiz hasn't really been counting much with Garay this season for reasons which escape me.

The Raul factor

On another note can the great Raul score his 308 th goal and beat the great Alfredo Di Stefano`s record ?

Followers

Quick Links

Know Your Club

Raul Gonzalez is the all time top scorer in Champions League history with 61 goals in 117 games.

Francisco Gento is the only player to be a part of six Champions League winning teams.

Alfredo di Stefano is the all time topscorer with 307 goals in 396 games.

Center back Manuel Sanchis Hontiyuelo who played between 1983 and 2001 has the most number(710) of club appearances.

With a total of 57 trophies Real Madrid are the most successful club in Spain. They have won a record 31 La Liga titles, a record nine UEFA Champions League titles, a record three Intercontinental Cups, a record eight SuperCopa de Espana titles, 17 Copa del Rey titles, one Copa de la Liga, two UEFA Cups and one UEFA Super Cup.

Along with arch rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid shares the record of most number (6) of Ballon d’Or winners for a Spanish club.

In 1986 Real Madrid became the first club to win back to back UEFA Cup titles.

Real Madrid is one of five (Liverpool, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Ajax are the other clubs) clubs to be honoured with the UEFA Badge of Honour.

In 1966 Real Madrid became the first club ever to win the trophy with players from the same (Spain) country.

Real along with the Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao share the record of never being relegated from the La Liga.

Real Madrid have also won the Copa del Rey four times(1905-08) in a row thus becoming one of three clubs (Barcelona and Athletico Bilbao are the other two) to keep the trophy permanently.

Real Madrid have won the La Liga title five times in a row twice (1960-65, 1985-90).

Real Madrid C.F. (Club De Futbol) was founded as Madrid Football Club in 1902. It was renamed as Real Madrid in 1920 when King Alfonso XIII granted them the title of Royal (Real)